Memory foam bedding articles, such as mattress toppers and mattresses, are compressible. To facilitate transportation, storage and display, such a bedding article is often rolled and compressed into a cylindrical roll. The roll is then packed into a container such as a cardboard box. The container is transported to a retail store and is then placed on a retail-store merchandise shelf to be purchased by a consumer at the retail store.
FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a perspective view of a compressed and rolled bedding article 1. FIG. 2 (Prior Art) is a perspective view of a container 2 that contains rolled bedding article 1 of FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, bedding article 1 is first compressed and coiled into a cylindrical roll and is then placed into container 2. The cylindrical roll has a diameter 3. Container 2 has a rectangular prism shape with a square cross-section 4. The size of square cross-section 4 is determined by diameter 3 of the cylindrical roll.
FIG. 3 is a simplified top-down view looking down into the inside of container 2. Due to the circular cross-sectional shape of the rolled bedding article 1 in container 2, there is void space 5 inside container 2. The volume of container 2 is larger than the volume of rolled bedding article 1 due to void space 5.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing multiple containers 2, 7 and 8 on a retailer-store merchandise shelf 6. The front panels of the containers bear graphics including branding and labeling and advertising. The containers are arranged on shelf 6 such that the front panels of the containers are visible to prospective purchasers at the retail store.